Say goodbye to the Google Glass you know (but probably don’t love)

In the past few months the phrase “Google Glass is Dead” has gone from hyperbole to an increasingly, and depressingly, accurate description of the state of Google’s ambitious wearable technology. While some keep on hoping, things got bleaker for the Glass faithful today when Google announced it will stop selling the $1,500 Google Glass Explorer Editions, essentially halting the product for developers and users alike.

This is the latest in a long line of recent setbacks for the project. Key team members have departed, like main creative force Babak Parviz, apps likes Twitter have dropped support, the Explorer Editions users have gotten their eyes on seem iffy at best, and the full launch once planned for late last year remains in flux. And on top of all that, the Oculus Rift came along and stole Glass’s thunder as the cool new thing to strap to your face and change your perception of reality.

But this doesn’t mean Glass is dead forever. Google says future versions of Glass will be developed not by Google X but by a new team headed by Nest co-founder Tony Fadell. Recently discovered patents show this updated model might look like. While the basic shape of the smart glasses is the same, these drawings suggest a slimmer, sleeker form factor with the electronics more elegantly compacted. If Google Glass wants to be an actual consumer device, and dispel the dreaded “Glasshole” stigma, it has to look like something people would actually wear in public. These modified designs, with their headset influences, are definitely a step in that direction.

This news also follows recent Wall Street Journal reports of a Google Glass upgrade coming next year featuring Intel processors. Maybe this is all part of the same big overhaul, better parts inside a more beautiful package. The shift away from old Texas Instrument processors could also open the door for new software to come to the platform, as well as the return of old ones. But Google still plans on aiding companies supporting previous versions of Glass as well.

Google hasn’t been shy about the fact that Glass is essentially in public beta. That means we’ve gotten to see more failures of its development than with your typical gadget. But if it ever does finally come out, Google declined to share any timetables, at least we’ll know what it took to get there.

Or maybe Google Cardboard will just come out of nowhere and dominate everything.